Hoosiers can't let Huskers slow pace

Having turned the latest loss into a timely wake-up call, Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean may face an even bigger motivational hurdle tonight with his Hoosiers hosting Nebraska.

The 6 p.m. CST game against the Cornhuskers at Assembly Hall comes only three days after IU's most impressive performance of the season, an 81-68 road victory at No. 10 Ohio State on Sunday. The challenge for Crean and his staff tonight will be to get the Hoosiers to maintain that energy and focus and not be lulled to sleep by a Nebraska (12-12, 3-8 Big Ten) squad that will attempt to slow the pace to a near crawl.

The game will be televised on BTN.

"We've got to come out and establish the pace and tempo, no matter what they determine they want to do with it," said Crean. "We've got to make sure that we're doing everything possible to push the pace without rushing and turning the ball over."

The Hoosiers (21-3, 9-2 Big Ten) managed to do that at Ohio State, getting a combined 70 points from Victor Oladipo, Cody Zeller and Christian Watford to win in cutthroat fashion. It was a much-neeed victory after IU had blown a late double-digit lead in a 74-72 loss at Illinois last Thursday.

That loss to the Illini came five days after the Hoosiers had upset then-No. 1 Michigan 81-73 — a victory that propelled preseason No. 1 Indiana back to the top of the polls.

But such peak and valley efforts are why Crean is concerned that the Hoosiers might allow another opponent to hang around late.

Even against Michigan, Crean said he was disappointed with how his players squandered opportunities to secure the win earlier.

"We spent a lot of time on that, but was the message heard the way that it was when you end up losing a game like you did on Thursday? Probably not," said Crean.

Against Ohio State, the Hoosiers were clicking on all cylinders with Victor Oladipo scoring a career-high 26 points and Cody Zeller (24) and Christian Watford (20) also tallying at least 20 points. It was the Hoosiers first road win over a Top 25 team in 10 years.

Against the Cornhusters, Crean will have the revenge factor to rely on since Nebraska claimed a 70-69 win last season. "That was a very tough locker room, a very tough trip home and next day," he said. "I think you remember those things. I don't think it has a lot to do with (tonight), obviously, but I think you do remember those things."

A lot has changed for Nebraska since then, including the hiring of head coach Tim Miles. Miles has brought a defensive toughness to the program with the Cornhuskers holding opponents to 41.6 percent shooting overall and 28.3 percent from 3-point range.